Whenever I light the fire, it seems to make the room quite smoky. The fire itself seems to draw well.
So we’re considering an insert or a stove, probably the former because we’d quite like to minimise the work and to keep the fireplace. It’s an unusual shape, however - which may be why it smokes: any opinion welcome - because in effect it’s open at one side. So not only the glass front of the insert would be visible, but also part of the side.
Is anyone else using an insert? Any brands to prefer, or problems to be aware of?
If you’ve got an old house, a free-standing stove (trad or contemporary) can look really good in an old French fireplace. Inserts less so IMO. Also inserts release less heat into the room.
If you don’t want a wonderful, but expensive Scandinavian stove, Invicta’s a more affordable good efficient brand with a large range of contemporary and traditional designs. However, it’s also worth looking at pellet stoves - we’ve got log and pellet (on different storeys) and each has advantages.
If you have a smoky fireplace, there are a number of things to check.
The obvious one is an obstruction in the flue, but you say it draws well, and I assume you have it swept on schedule.
Second thing to check is that there is a sufficient source of air coming into the room to replace what goes up the chimney. If you have double glazing, it can seal off the room too efficiently and the fire is unable to pull air through. There should be an airbrick in the wall somewhere (at least that’s UK practice, not sure about France), or else some small vents in the double glazing that remain open to allow in fresh air.
Third possibility is that you have a fireplace that’s been opened up, and now has a frontal area that’s a lot bigger than the flue was designed for. Back in the 90s when I worked for a fireplace retailer, it was common for people to rip out old 1920s-30s tiled fireplaces and also remove the tapered 16" or 17" fireback, making the opening rectangular and much larger, in order to fit a rectangular grate with a gas open flame fire.
The flue was designed for a small opening and with the enlargement often didn’t draw properly and chucked fumes back into the room, at least until the air in the chimney heated up in borderline cases.
We sometimes had to fit a toughened glass panel across the top of the fireplace opening to reduce its overall area and get the chimney to draw properly.
The most extreme case of this that I dealt with was a huge mediaeval fireplace at Leeds Castle in Kent - we supplied a very big gas log fire and it chucked fumes out like crazy until we added a glass panel. I assume that in the olden days Anne Boleyn and Co. would have just put up with the smoke!
As for part two of your question, yes if you put an insert/stove in it should stop the problem and also be more efficient heatwise. Unfortunately as it’s almost 30 years since I was in the industry I can’t recommend specific models!
You’ve had an interesting life so far, @ChrisMann ! The chimbley was swept before we moved in and the fireplace is, I think, original. Its curious (to me) feature is that the left side is open, so instead of having 5 solid enclosing surfaces so the heat comes out of the (6th plane) front, it has only 4. Would that make a difference?
I think we’ve ruled out a pellet stove, M, because we want something interesting to look at and want to keep the current fireplace (which wouldn’t have enough room for the feeder mech, I think). The fireplace … well, the kindest thing you could say is that it’s characterful, like the face of a beloved old bulldog. I posted a picture of it somewhere here; I’ll see if I’ve got a copy. It’s not at all what we’d have chosen (neither is the white marble floor) - I think it’s original 1960s interior design, though you’d be better placed than I to express an opinion - but it feels a bit rude to buy a house and transform it to our image.
And, thinking further, I’m not sure an insert would work because (as I understand them) they’re glass-fronted boxes you put into a fireplace, and the lack of a left-hand wall would mean part of the structure normally hidden would be exposed.
I’m intrigued by the idea of a Scandinavian stove, though: what makes would you suggest?
Here’s the fireplace. I’m sure its mother loved it …
Didn’t realise it was so modern (recent) but on the basis of your photo I’d revise my previous post about inserts because you can get inserts with a glass side panel that might look really good in your unusual fireplace and presumably would radiate more heat than the usual type.
If it followed the line of the mantelpiece and whatever they call the bit at the bottom, it’d have to be curved like shop windows of the old-fashioned sort used to be, and correspondingly expensive, but that might look very good. I suppose there’d be the curved side part, hinged to the opening front door. Food for thought! Also might make your Scandi stove look like a bargain
Friends of mine with a second home had a new chimney put in their house and at the hearth it had a fantastic glass insert that, once the fire was burning, they could lift up giving them an open fire. It really was the best of both worlds. I don’t know who made it and post Brexit they sold the holiday home that they had owned for 25 years. I have a Jøtul woodburner which is really great. It’s a huge improvement over the other wood burning stoves that I’ve owned.
I think you’ve identified one of our challenges: to find something 60s-esque that doesn’t look too studied or contrived, but fits the room.
You’ve not seen the chimney-piece (?) above the fireplace, which is currently painted silver-grey in a sort of leafy/feathery style … we are not great decorators, but come the revolution, as @ChrisMann might say, that will be first against the wall
It can be useful to take everything back to basic white, then see how things looks and what it might need to make a visual statement. In other words, clear away what you don’t want to keep and then reassess. However, you’re dealing with two issues -decor and heating, so you need to integrate your solution.
Whatever type of wood burning thing you choose do make sure you get a room sealed model. This draws it’s combustion air from outside & not the room you are trying to heat. This removes the need for air entry into the heated space, & the consequent draughts that creates i.e. healthier & more efficient.
I have friends who recently installed something like that. Quite sleek and something that could fit many room styles. If interested I can ask them what make it is.
It would be very kind if you would ask, @JaneJones . We’re still at the dumb questions stage (I seem to have been stuck there many years, now I think about it).
@Badger , I recall such a system from when I thought we might do this in the uk. Concentric flues, I suppose. Does it require power to draw in the outside air? I presume not. Do you know what these systems are called in French?
No, a separate pipe usually horizontal and around 100mm dia. Not powered in the ones I have seen, or on my Burley fireball stove.
Now the standard for burning wood has increased both in the UK and EU, I wouldnt buy a second hand stove as they simply wont match the far better burning of the new SIA eco design 2022. You’ll pay a bit more but burn less timber and cleaner.
I think a wood stove heats by radiation and an insert heats mainly by natural and ventilated convection.
We used to have an old second hand insert with a big opening glass door. The space above it was insulated and a grille high up let the heat out into the room.
We now have a poële instead and definitely prefer it. It looks smart and heats the room much better.
